The way to beat this is to create an entirely new language. Just as a great OS would borrow bits and pieces from all other good OSs, a new language could be built that implemented the best qualities of all known languages, both past and present, and could be patched where it needed.
This way, we could avoid the idiotic nationalism involved in such a change, and the resulting language would be better than any existing language. People would *want* to learn it. We need to give it a name. How about NewSpeak? Or is that already taken...
"Better yet, why don't we just engineer car speakers to aim their audio into the car compartment only? That way they can listen to their annoying Busta Rhymes as loud as they want without disturbing those of us with good musical taste."
They play music loudly specifically so other people can hear it. It is a pathetic way to attract attention to one's self, along with ridiculously colorful paintjobs, shiny rims and thousands of dollars worth of hydraulics so their cars will bounce.
If you gave those idiots the ability to beam music in a particular direction, I guarantee they would be pointed out the windows instead of at the driver's head.
"Will the day come when there are just three major online news sources -- AOL.com, News.com, and MSN.com -- and all the rest (including Slashdot) are just barking dogs chasing their wheels?"
Slashdot was never intended to be a 'major online news source'. Once it was absorbed by Bendover, it became a brick in the wall. Perhaps a strange-looking brick that doesn't quite fit alongside the other bricks, but still...
When one of the really big news companies, such as MSN, absorbs Andover (and don't even try to say they won't sell-out) then/. will be posting stories about how Windows edged out Linux in yet another benchmark, the banner ads will all be for Microsoft, the backend will run NT with a free but annoying forced registration and Bill the Borg will lose the headgear and glasses and have a tan and pearly whites added to his grill.
Forget the taste difference, because it is impossible to 'prove' that one thing tastes better than another. (Even though Coke does taste about 1000x better than Pepsi)
Pepsi is a company that stole the idea of cola from Coke and went on to make an inferior product. Pepsi's secret ingredient was pepsin, the stuff you took for upset stomachs that also made for a nice laxative. Coke was chic enough to slip us some cocaine. Jolt has nothing on the original formula. It was the only soft drink in history that actually made you lose weight. Think of how many svelt coders would be running around if we had that stuff now.
Then take into account Pepsi's advertising campaign. I can sum it up in two words: COKE SUCKS
They never tell you to drink Pepsi because it's good. They tell you to drink it because Coke sucks. EVERY Pepsi commercial mentions Coke at least once. Coke, on the other hand, makes very clever/hip/catchy commercials that sometimes really make you want to drink a Coke. Anyone else see the one with the really cute girl with the short brown hair and gorgeous mouth drinking Coke out of a tall, cool, ice-filled glass? It made me want to drink Coke. And find where that chick lives...
I hate Pepsi so much that I no longer can eat at KFC, Pizza Hut or Taco bell, which *seriously* cuts into my restaurant choices. Luckily Wendy's stays open late these days.
At least RC and Jolt and other Coke competitors don't try to insult the originator of the cola drink. They know their role, and it's under Coke's feet.
I'll finish this semi-offtopic rant with an interesting factoid. A factoidette, even. Only 12 people in history have even seen the complete formula to Coke. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. Now this post will be moderated down because Coke doesn't open source their recipe.
While a port of NetBSD to the Dreamcast platform seems frivolous right now, in a few years, when it has been replaced by the next generation of gaming consoles, instead of adding it to the local landfill, the owner will be able to set it up as an Internet console or low volume web server or any of several other tasks it would suited for.
But perhaps the best reason of all for porting an OS to an unconventional hardware platform is because they could.
There was an ISP that used the domain SE-TEL.COM, and as a result, I received 3 or 4 stray e-mails per day from people that were sending to whomever@setel.com because they weren't including the hyphen.
I got a few love letters, some that could have even gotten people (usually wayward husbands) in trouble, some AdultCheck ID's and various other pay passwords. I was even sent financial information on several companies. Ah yes and a scanned picture of a naked woman named Jennifer.
While my experience was small scale, I was always tempted to register MINDSPRONG.COM or OAL.COM (which were unregistered at the time) just to see how much stray e-mail I would get. In a matter of time, something interesting was bound to arrive in my inbox:)
I got all types as a lifeguard. Smart. Dumb. Of average intelligence. Flakes. Great personalities. Terrible personalities. Boring. Interesting. But who really cares about that?
I'm not interested in a long-term relationship. I just like dating. But I think girls like the idea of dating a lifeguard more than dating a network engineer, even though I make 4x now as I did then.
If you made dollar-for-dollar the same amount as a lawyer or doctor, or even more, the girl would rather be able to say, "I'm dating this doctor." as opposed to "I'm dating this network engineer." Someone in another thread brought up the point that doctors and lawyers tend to spend their money in ways that make their wealth obvious, whereas IT people tend to spend it on gizmos. I drive a 2001 Explorer Sport Trac, but I also drop $10,000 - $15,000 per year on new computer parts and other techie gadgets. If I stuck with one system, instead of the 5-station network I have now, I could be driving a Mercedes instead.
The girls worth keeping, and we all know how rare THEY are, don't care what you do for a living. I'm currently dating, and I use the term very loosely because we just met in April, an absolutely GORGEOUS Brazilian girl. She is very smart. Her personality is amazing. And she is as far from a geek as a girl can get, but she really doesn't care that I do what I do. In fact, she really likes it and asks me about computers all the time. So some girls, even the really desirable ones, no longer associate computers with geeks. But unfortunately, many still do. I couldn't tell you how many times a day I get called 'geek' at work. Though the people are joking, there is much truth said in jest. Not truth about who I am, but truth about what they think.
I've had a rather bizarre life. I was a lifeguard in high school, a jock AND a lifeguard in college, and am now a network engineer in 'real' life.
I still look basically the same. 6' 1", 210 athletic pounds, dark blonde hair, blue eyes. The anti-geek. But when I was lifeguarding and in college, I picked up WAY more girls than I do now, even though I am exposed to just as many.
My personality is basically the same, but that twinkle in my eye and uncontrollable grin that takes over my face when I talk about encryption or compression or alternative operating systems seems to be a genuine turn-off to girls.
I don't know if they are intimidated by me because they don't understand what I'm saying or they are simply assuming that I'm a geek at heart (which I am) underneath my athletic frame.
Girls are taught that geeks are not desirable men. Here on/. and in the IT world we throw the term around affectionately, but you must realize that most of the world isn't in our circle and in THEIR world, a geek is not a good thing to be.
I don't wear glasses. I'm not fat. I don't shoot milk out of my nose when I laugh. Well... I *usually* don't...
But once girls find out what I do, I'm suddenly a geek.
I think society's perception will change in time as the IT profession becomes more and more important. Network engineering will one day be thought as 'cool' of a job as being a lawyer or doctor.
The upper echelon (top 15% or so) already makes the same amount or more money than the other 'prestigious' professions. Respect will come in time, I think.
Many people are already dismissing the 'geek' notion just because someone is into computers. But even more are clinging onto the stereotype. People in my company can't even comprehend why I make 2x to 3x more than they do. Sometimes I feel like handing them a keyboard and saying, "If it's so easy, YOU do it."
If they really get to you, just do what I do. Hack into their home machines and leave a "y00 h4v3 ju$7 b33n h4xx0r1z3d bi 4 31337 h4xx0r d00d. $$$$$$$$$ EZ $$$$$$$$" message on their screen.
They'll be your best friend the next day:)
Remember, you aren't getting paid big bucks for what you know. You're getting paid for what the rest of the world doesn't know.
Slashdot Mirror
His name is Nick Fisher and from pretty much all accounts, he's a dickhead. Check this /. post on the same story:
2 34&cid=42
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/10/10/1221
Knunov
Look at the registration info for GAMEFAN.NET, EXPRESS.COM or VOODOOEXTREME.COM
They all have Fisher's name or his company's name (Maximum Holdings) as at least one of the contacts.
The way to beat this is to create an entirely new language. Just as a great OS would borrow bits and pieces from all other good OSs, a new language could be built that implemented the best qualities of all known languages, both past and present, and could be patched where it needed.
This way, we could avoid the idiotic nationalism involved in such a change, and the resulting language would be better than any existing language. People would *want* to learn it. We need to give it a name. How about NewSpeak? Or is that already taken...
Knunov
"Better yet, why don't we just engineer car speakers to aim their audio into the car compartment only? That way they can listen to their annoying Busta Rhymes as loud as they want without disturbing those of us with good musical taste."
They play music loudly specifically so other people can hear it. It is a pathetic way to attract attention to one's self, along with ridiculously colorful paintjobs, shiny rims and thousands of dollars worth of hydraulics so their cars will bounce.
If you gave those idiots the ability to beam music in a particular direction, I guarantee they would be pointed out the windows instead of at the driver's head.
Knunov
"Will the day come when there are just three major online news sources -- AOL.com, News.com, and MSN.com -- and all the rest (including Slashdot) are just barking dogs chasing their wheels?"
/. will be posting stories about how Windows edged out Linux in yet another benchmark, the banner ads will all be for Microsoft, the backend will run NT with a free but annoying forced registration and Bill the Borg will lose the headgear and glasses and have a tan and pearly whites added to his grill.
Slashdot was never intended to be a 'major online news source'. Once it was absorbed by Bendover, it became a brick in the wall. Perhaps a strange-looking brick that doesn't quite fit alongside the other bricks, but still...
When one of the really big news companies, such as MSN, absorbs Andover (and don't even try to say they won't sell-out) then
Knunov
Pepsi sucks and I'll tell you why.
Forget the taste difference, because it is impossible to 'prove' that one thing tastes better than another. (Even though Coke does taste about 1000x better than Pepsi)
Pepsi is a company that stole the idea of cola from Coke and went on to make an inferior product. Pepsi's secret ingredient was pepsin, the stuff you took for upset stomachs that also made for a nice laxative. Coke was chic enough to slip us some cocaine. Jolt has nothing on the original formula. It was the only soft drink in history that actually made you lose weight. Think of how many svelt coders would be running around if we had that stuff now.
Then take into account Pepsi's advertising campaign. I can sum it up in two words: COKE SUCKS
They never tell you to drink Pepsi because it's good. They tell you to drink it because Coke sucks. EVERY Pepsi commercial mentions Coke at least once. Coke, on the other hand, makes very clever/hip/catchy commercials that sometimes really make you want to drink a Coke. Anyone else see the one with the really cute girl with the short brown hair and gorgeous mouth drinking Coke out of a tall, cool, ice-filled glass? It made me want to drink Coke. And find where that chick lives...
I hate Pepsi so much that I no longer can eat at KFC, Pizza Hut or Taco bell, which *seriously* cuts into my restaurant choices. Luckily Wendy's stays open late these days.
At least RC and Jolt and other Coke competitors don't try to insult the originator of the cola drink. They know their role, and it's under Coke's feet.
I'll finish this semi-offtopic rant with an interesting factoid. A factoidette, even. Only 12 people in history have even seen the complete formula to Coke. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. Now this post will be moderated down because Coke doesn't open source their recipe.
Knunov
While a port of NetBSD to the Dreamcast platform seems frivolous right now, in a few years, when it has been replaced by the next generation of gaming consoles, instead of adding it to the local landfill, the owner will be able to set it up as an Internet console or low volume web server or any of several other tasks it would suited for.
But perhaps the best reason of all for porting an OS to an unconventional hardware platform is because they could.
I call it 'mountain climber' logic.
Knunov
I used to administer the domain SETEL.COM
:)
There was an ISP that used the domain SE-TEL.COM, and as a result, I received 3 or 4 stray e-mails per day from people that were sending to whomever@setel.com because they weren't including the hyphen.
I got a few love letters, some that could have even gotten people (usually wayward husbands) in trouble, some AdultCheck ID's and various other pay passwords. I was even sent financial information on several companies. Ah yes and a scanned picture of a naked woman named Jennifer.
While my experience was small scale, I was always tempted to register MINDSPRONG.COM or OAL.COM (which were unregistered at the time) just to see how much stray e-mail I would get. In a matter of time, something interesting was bound to arrive in my inbox
Knunov
just testing something '
I got all types as a lifeguard. Smart. Dumb. Of average intelligence. Flakes. Great personalities. Terrible personalities. Boring. Interesting. But who really cares about that?
I'm not interested in a long-term relationship. I just like dating. But I think girls like the idea of dating a lifeguard more than dating a network engineer, even though I make 4x now as I did then.
If you made dollar-for-dollar the same amount as a lawyer or doctor, or even more, the girl would rather be able to say, "I'm dating this doctor." as opposed to "I'm dating this network engineer." Someone in another thread brought up the point that doctors and lawyers tend to spend their money in ways that make their wealth obvious, whereas IT people tend to spend it on gizmos. I drive a 2001 Explorer Sport Trac, but I also drop $10,000 - $15,000 per year on new computer parts and other techie gadgets. If I stuck with one system, instead of the 5-station network I have now, I could be driving a Mercedes instead.
The girls worth keeping, and we all know how rare THEY are, don't care what you do for a living. I'm currently dating, and I use the term very loosely because we just met in April, an absolutely GORGEOUS Brazilian girl. She is very smart. Her personality is amazing. And she is as far from a geek as a girl can get, but she really doesn't care that I do what I do. In fact, she really likes it and asks me about computers all the time. So some girls, even the really desirable ones, no longer associate computers with geeks. But unfortunately, many still do. I couldn't tell you how many times a day I get called 'geek' at work. Though the people are joking, there is much truth said in jest. Not truth about who I am, but truth about what they think.
Knunov
I've had a rather bizarre life. I was a lifeguard in high school, a jock AND a lifeguard in college, and am now a network engineer in 'real' life.
/. and in the IT world we throw the term around affectionately, but you must realize that most of the world isn't in our circle and in THEIR world, a geek is not a good thing to be.
:)
I still look basically the same. 6' 1", 210 athletic pounds, dark blonde hair, blue eyes. The anti-geek. But when I was lifeguarding and in college, I picked up WAY more girls than I do now, even though I am exposed to just as many.
My personality is basically the same, but that twinkle in my eye and uncontrollable grin that takes over my face when I talk about encryption or compression or alternative operating systems seems to be a genuine turn-off to girls.
I don't know if they are intimidated by me because they don't understand what I'm saying or they are simply assuming that I'm a geek at heart (which I am) underneath my athletic frame.
Girls are taught that geeks are not desirable men. Here on
I don't wear glasses. I'm not fat. I don't shoot milk out of my nose when I laugh. Well... I *usually* don't...
But once girls find out what I do, I'm suddenly a geek.
I think society's perception will change in time as the IT profession becomes more and more important. Network engineering will one day be thought as 'cool' of a job as being a lawyer or doctor.
The upper echelon (top 15% or so) already makes the same amount or more money than the other 'prestigious' professions. Respect will come in time, I think.
Many people are already dismissing the 'geek' notion just because someone is into computers. But even more are clinging onto the stereotype. People in my company can't even comprehend why I make 2x to 3x more than they do. Sometimes I feel like handing them a keyboard and saying, "If it's so easy, YOU do it."
If they really get to you, just do what I do. Hack into their home machines and leave a "y00 h4v3 ju$7 b33n h4xx0r1z3d bi 4 31337 h4xx0r d00d. $$$$$$$$$ EZ $$$$$$$$" message on their screen.
They'll be your best friend the next day
Remember, you aren't getting paid big bucks for what you know. You're getting paid for what the rest of the world doesn't know.
Knunov
10 to 1 odds says that Katz though nano-tech was a computer technology. Knunov